When I saw that the death pronounced on the first Adam was really prophetic of the last Adam’s death, it changed my take on this. By His death, we are all relieved of our ‘old man’ and are a new creation. The old has passed away and all things have become new. We have His life in us. Paul said that he was dead, yet he lived.

Paul also said that we are dead and our life is hid with Christ in God. This makes sense to me now. Because of the death Jesus died, all that old stuff we worry about, and call sin, does not count any more. We “died” with Him. We are raised with Him in new life. His life is in us. We don’t have to figure out how. It just is. And that is what will raise us bodily one day.

So, when Paul says to “put off the old man”, what is he saying? Is it something we can actually do? No.

Paul is saying to realize we are new – to quit thinking the old way. It’s an exhortation. We are new, through what Christ did. The sense in the original text is that it has been done and they (the Ephesians) had been taught this, and they were to realize it and act like it. We are new creations. Notify your mind and actions. Let grace teach you, not rules and laws. We have new life.

We do not “die daily”. We do not decrease so that He can increase. We do not put off the old man. It is already done. Jesus did it. When we see this, we walk in newness and freedom. It is joy unspeakable. All we have to do is be ourselves, except that we need to stop being our own worst enemy. God loves us to be us. We used to say, “Let go and let God.” We should do it.

He has done it all, given it all to us, and lives this life with us, in us. It’s a wonderful dance.

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There is a lot being said lately about how all in Adam die and all in Christ will be made alive. This is scripture. Let’s look at it.

1 Corinthians 15:22 – [ Young’s Literal]

…for even as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ all shall be made alive,

2 Corinthians 5:19 – [ Young’s] ..how that God was in Christ — a world reconciling to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses; and having put in us the word of the reconciliation,

The word, in, doesn’t necessarily mean something is located within something else.

En:

Preposition – Definition: in, by, with etc.

Another way of reading ‘in’, when dealing with passages like 1 Cor 15:22, is to read it as ‘because of’, ‘by this means’, or ‘due to.

This is the best sense of 2 Corinthians 5:19:

[ The Message Bible ] God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing.

Clearly, in the light of many passages to the contrary, we cannot say that all men are in Christ, as united with Him. Only believers have a part in Him. That does not mean all aren’t reconciled because of His saving work. They are. But all are not in Him. As I looked at this, I saw that all were not “in” Adam either. All die because of/by Adam.

All who receive Christ are the ones who are part of Him, the spiritual seed of Abraham. Paul said all Israel was not Israel. And yes, it’s tricky. But not if you understand the meaning of saying ‘in’. All people in the whole world are not in Christ. They are reconciled by the work of Christ on the cross. But they are not in Him.

What’s the big deal? Well, to say the whole world is in Christ is to ignore plain statements to the contrary. It is to believe something that is not supported by the general tenor of scripture. It is to believe an absurdity.